Today in history
1539 — Marriage treaty is signed for England’s King Henry VIII to wed Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife.
1582 — Last day of the Julian Calendar in the Papal states, Spain and Portugal. Pope Gregory’s Gregorian calendar took effect the next day, which became October 15.
1669 — Death of Rembrandt (van Rijn), Dutch painter of portraits, religious works and landscapes.
1830 — Belgium becomes an independent state, having been part of the Netherlands since 1815.
1895 — First United States Open golf tournament is held, at the Newport Country Club in Rhode Island and is won by English professional Horace Rawlins.
1910 — Portugal’s King Manuel II flees to England on outbreak of revolution in Lisbon. A republic is declared the next day.
1952 — First pacemaker to control the body’s heartbeat, developed by Dr Paul Zoll of Harvard University, is fitted externally to David Schwartz.
1957 — The Soviet Union puts the first spacecraft, Sputnik, into orbit around Earth, heralding the start of the space age.
1958 — First trans-atlantic passenger jetliner service is begun by British Overseas Airways Corporation, with flights between London and New York.
1970 — Janis Joplin, US blues and rock singer, is found dead of a drugs overdose.
1986 — Fire breaks out in Soviet nuclear-powered submarine carrying ballistic missiles, and three people are reported dead.
1993 — Russian parliament leaders surrender to soldiers loyal to President Boris Yeltsin, after at least 300 die in two days of fighting.
2001 — A Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile brings down a Russian airliner over the Black Sea, killing all 78 people on board.
2005 — Turkey opens membership negotiations with the European Union, 42 years after first being given the prospect of membership in the wealthy European bloc.
2010 — The Nobel Prize in medicine goes to Robert Edwards, the Briton whose work led to the first test-tube baby.
2015 — North Queensland Cowboys beat Brisbane Broncos 17-16 in the first NRL golden-point grand final.
2016 — The new head of Britain’s UK Independence Party (UKIP) Diane James resigns after a mere 18 days of being in charge.
Today’s Birthdays: Francois Guizot, French politician-historian (1787-1874); Buster Keaton, US actor-comedian (1895-1966); Charlton Heston, US actor (1923-2008), Jackie Collins, British novelist (1941-2015); Susan Sarandon, US actress (1946-); Alicia Silverstone, US actress (1976-).